San Diego mother transferred

August 31, 2008

YPSILANTI, Mich. (AP) -- Michigan prison officials have a message for a California woman who escaped in 1976 and was captured in April: Keep a low profile. Susan LeFevre had been portraying herself to other inmates as the "celebrity prisoner," said Russ Marlan, a spokesman for the state Corrections Department. "Prisoners don't particularly like prisoners who bring a lot of attention to themselves," he said this week. LeFevre was transferred last week to a prison in Ypsilanti. She had been at a prison in Northville Township, where her attorney said she was uncomfortable. Marlan said transfers are common and LeFevre's had nothing to do with her complaints. "It's an opportunity for her to go to a new environment and make a fresh start. ... She has a substantial amount of time left to do," he said. LeFevre's attorney, William Swor, said he had no role in the transfer. The 53-year-old San Diego woman was convicted of a heroin charge in Saginaw, Mich., in 1974 and sentenced to at least 10 years in prison. She climbed a fence in 1976 with help from her grandfather and eventually settled in California where she's married with three children. LeFevre will be arraigned on the escape charge Friday. She also is fighting the drug sentence in Saginaw County.